Newly Licensed but can't back to save my life

So I passed class-A in jersey, did exceptional I was told, there was no alley dock. So now with an employer that has me in a short company training program for newly licensed drivers, and this is basically I ride out with guys as they do their routes, and includes brief exercises at the end of the day in the yard for me to practice backing. Driving etc is no issue with me, but apparently I can't alley dock to save my life. Closest I can figure is what is killing me is I cannot tell for sure where exactly the tail is in relation to the hole, so I can't get the set up correct. Could this be just a matter of I need an appointment with my eye doctor, or is there some other reason why I cannot tell where my tail is in relation to the hole I need to guide the trailer into? Is this a common, or uncommon issue? I certainly understand the 'way' of backing, turn left to push the trailer right & vice versa. Straight backing no issue. It's very frustrating.

 

It takes practice practice practice. Some people catch on quicker than others. You will figure it out eventually. Best of Luck

 

Set up the trailer for a 45.
Then I line up the left side trailer tires on a line extending from the tire tracks that go to the dock or an imaginary line extending out into the lot where the left side tires should go so the trailer is centered at the dock. When the spot between the front and rear tires hit that mark stop, crank it and continue. Haven't hit another trailer yet. OK, you didn't see me do it so I'm innocent, pure as the wind driven snow.

This may not make sense, I'm cross-eyed tired. If it does make sense, I meant to do that.

 

FedEx?

 

Just keep at it, you’ll get it. The more practice the better. Once you get the basics down, you’ll still have different scenarios that aren’t usually taught by anyone. You’ll figure those situations out also. Just stay calm, focus , and take all the time you need. I’ve noticed my depth perception isn’t as good as it used to be as I get older, I usually get out and look, when backing into a parking spot. Don’t want to bump the Truck behind me and wake someone up. What seems like a couple feet, often turns out being 4, 5, even 6 or 7 feet. Lol. Better safe than sorry.

 

I was terrible as a noob backing, it nearly broke me.

You just have to keep doing it many many times and it will eventually click and you'll get a feel for what you need to do.
It's a breeze now.

 

It takes practice. I found it is eaiser if you have something to aim at. One thing I did while in training that really helped me was an old Gatorade bottle full of water. Put it at the end of the line for the spot you are backing into and aim your tirea for that single point. If you get close to hitting, stop, pull forward and put more turn into it until you get you tandems past the bottle then cut it hard to straighten out.

If you hit the bottle, no biggie, cause only damage is to the bottle.

Also, pull up as far away from the spot you can. Most will tell you go 3 to 4 spots past. Go 6 to 8 spots past the door you want to back in to. It give you more space to correct and less turning of the wheel.

If you are squinting at all to see the lines, tandems, or the hole you are backing into then go to the eye doctor just to get checked out.

Good luck.

 

Alley docking as I’m having the tractor at a 90 degree angle to the trailer when you bump the dock ?

backing just takes practice .

mask of you can hang around after your shift is over and practice .

When my nephew first got hired , the company let him practice on their yard.

he would hook up to a trailer , make three laps around the yard and back it into a spot , unhook , bobtail three laps around the property , hook back up to the trailer and make a couple laps around the property and back it into a different spot , unhook , bobtail around etc ,
He did that for 9 hours straight , and after too days of that , he was almost an expert backer .

you’ve just got to practice , and it works better if you can practice for two or three hours at a time , so you can figure it out and remember it .
If you just back in once , and someone is there telling you what to do the whole time , and then you don’t do it again until two days later , you will never improve . you gotta practice long enough at one time to figure it out and remember it .

 

We all go through it. Stick with it and sooner or later it will become easy. You will laugh at how hard it used to be once you master it